THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
BLUE VIEWPOINT
"What!? You're full full of baloney!"
Yep, that's what most people think, also. But, let's just think about this and look at some examples. Everyone knows that up and down are opposites. Looking at the definition of up and comparing it to down will show this. Fast and slow are opposites, in the extremes anyway. Most people consider black and white as opposites, as far as human perception is concerned. Also, most people are fairly certain about true and false being opposites. Here, however, is where the rub comes in.
If something is true, then it usually has a basis for that determination. Some kind of proof that people can point to and say, "Yep, that's why I believe that is true!" However, if something is false, unless there is a commonly accepted definition or provable condition, it is harder to demonstrate falseness. If the statement is that "Birds can fly.", then the proof is in the definition of "fly" and the demonstration of that activity in real life. Right?
I mean, if I say "I can lift 100 pounds." and someone doubts it, then to prove that it's true, I will have to demonstrate by lifting 100 pounds. First, we need a definition of "lift". Now, if I demonstrate by getting a car jack and lift the 100 pounds with the jack, there is a legitimate complaint about the truth of the statement I made. If I had said "I can lift 100 pounds with a car jack.", then the claim is still the same with a qualification and may be accepted more easily.
What about deceptive appearances?
But, what about beliefs and actions? Let's say that a person claims to a group of her friends, "I never wear short pants." If one of those friends had visited that person's house the day before and saw the claimer wearing short clothing that came down to mid-thigh, they would think that the person had just lied and brings it up to them. If the claimer said, "No! That was a skirt.", then they could demonstrate whether that was true by using a sort of definition to prove their point. Or, maybe someone claims that they "Never eat chocolate.", but you see them biting into a Humphrey's candy bar. You call them on it, and it turns out that a Humphrey's bar is made from carob - made from vegan ingredients.
Of course, there are things that we can know and others will not because they have not had the same experiences in life.
How we worship God
However, there is one area where many people act on what they have learned, but much of the knowledge turns out to be completely false because they learned it in church and it is not from the Bible. Not everything they learn in church is wrong, but that just confuses the issue. The biggest example of this is in the Christian faith. Most Christians do exactly what the Bible tells them not to do and they do the opposite of what the Bible says we are to do. They eat what is forbidden, they do not follow all the commandments, and they keep pagan festivals against the explicit instructions of God. How do they justify it? By claiming faith. Yet, they are doing the opposite by not obeying. (Luke 6:46
46"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"
) But, according to James, that is only half of what God wants us to do (James 2:14-17
14"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
). The other half of faith is obedience. They seem to have faith in only half of God. And yes, Paul tells us that actions will not save you, but he never says that we should not do them. He knows that actions are the result of our faith, not the opposite.
"Who are you to judge?"
Well, it's not me that judges, it's God. He told us what to do in His Word, but no one seems to want to read it enough to know what He is saying. What do I mean? Well, let's just take the ten commandments, for example. Every person who calls themselves a Christian claims to follow the Word of God. Yet, I can point to one of the ten commandments that almost no one follows. Now, here everyone shouts, "That's not true! We follow all ten of them!" Well, what about the fourth one? Sunday is not the Sabbath. That makes that last quoted statement the opposite of true. Just in case you have forgotten which one that is:
8"Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy." (Exodus 20:8-11 NIV)
Now, is it true that God set aside the seventh day as the Sabbath for man? Yep, Mark 2:27
27Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath."
. Notice that He did not say that Sabbath was made for only the Jews. Are we supposed to observe the Sabbath as Gentiles? Here, again, everyone says, "That's only for the Jews!" Most Christians "keep" Sunday and ignore the Sabbath. So, show me in the Bible where God or Jesus said "Start keeping Sunday instead of My Sabbath." That's the opposite of what He said to do. But, He did say in Isaiah what He would do if the Gentiles kept His Sabbath. I have to draw your attention to the words in Isaiah 56:1-8 (see the bold text in verse 3 and at the bottom)
56 This is what the Lord says:
1"Maintain justice
and do what is right,
for my salvation is close at hand
and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
2Blessed is the one who does this -
the person who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it,
and keeps their hands from doing any evil."
3Let no foreigner who is bound to the Lord say,
"The Lord will surely exclude me from his people."
And let no eunuch complain,
"I am only a dry tree."
4For this is what the Lord says:
"To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose what pleases me
and hold fast to my covenant -
5to them I will give within my temple and its walls
a memorial and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that will endure forever.
6And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord
to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord,
and to be his servants,
all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it
and who hold fast to my covenant -
7these I will bring to my holy mountain
and give them joy in my house of prayer.
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house will be called
a house of prayer for all nations."
8The Sovereign Lord declares -
he who gathers the exiles of Israel:
"I will gather still others to them
besides those already gathered." Isaiah 56:1-8 (bold added)
Now, I realize this passage is hard to understand since Isaiah was so vague about the words spoken by the Lord God. But, you should be able to get it if you stare at it long enough, and then stop thinking along the lines of what your pastor teaches about what the Bible means with regard to God's commandments.
Now, is it a truth that God said that He would save the foreigners if they would keep His Sabbaths? Yes. Now, does the Bible say anywhere that God will save the foreigners who do not keep the Sabbath? Come on now, "Well, He doesn't say that He won't." is not an answer. We can only go by statements actually made in the properly translated Bible - and not in a paraphrase Bible that tells us, "Well, I'm sure that's what He meant to say!". We don't know what He will do if He doesn't say it. We can't be saved by doing the opposite of His will.
The Bible applies to Gentiles as well
So, if you say that you believe that the Bible is the word of God, but then immediately deny that the word of God applies to Gentiles, then what do you really believe about obedience to the word of God? If you say that the ten commandments are only for the Jews, then is it O.K. to murder someone you don't like, or steal from them, or sleep with another's husband or wife? Here everyone gets defensive and says , "Of course not! Those are commandments!" Then, why not keep the fourth one as well as the others? Or you can just keep doing the opposite of what God wants, but He will save you, anyway. Right?
And then...
How about eating what God called unclean - pigs, crustaceans, rabbits, etc? That opposite surely doesn't matter to God, right? God put them on the earth to clean up the environment. People object to this, especially when Jesus said that no food will make you unclean since it passes right through the body and out. However, that's not the important part of the passage. Jesus said that it's what comes out of the mouth that defiles a person (Matthew 15:17-20
17"Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts - murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.")
). Besides, that conversation was about washing hands before eating, not the food. Real food is what God said we could eat. Eating what God said not to eat is bold disobedience to God, "No, God, I will eat pork and lobster because I want to!". It's the blatant refusal to follow God's command, that's what defiles you.
And then...
How about celebrating Christmas and Easter? Once again, that is defying the commands of God by doing exactly the opposite of what He said. (Deuteronomy 12:31
31You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
) Christmas in the world is done on the supposed birthday of a pagan god. Jesus was likely born in the Spring, and not the middle of winter. So, exactly the opposite. And Easter is actually named after the pagan goddess Eostre (also known as Ostara), the fertility goddess of dawn and spring. Hence, the chicks, eggs, and rabbits. But, somehow, we have to take the birthtime of Jesus and paganize it by celebrating it at the Spring equinox instead of on the first of Nisan, more likely His birthtime. And we celebrate it in exactly the way He told us not to do.
Why opposites?
I just do not understand why people insist on opposites, even when it comes to God. They say that they worship Him, but they do it their own way. Usually in the opposite direction of His instructions. When you put your own ways above the instructions of God, that is idolatry. That does not bode well for the future of those who call themselves "Christian". You know, that future where we all want to spend eternity with the One most of us disobey. Good luck with that!
Disagree? Find an error? Contact us at glenjjr@gmail.com and give us your view.
